The Bloodstream
by Amilya Eclair Farron
Summary: [Hiatus] "What should have been a normal, sunny and breezy day ended up turning into something completely new." Tragedy and chaos strikes Domino beach... and peoples' hearts... : Requested by KoK :


Requested by: KoK (Kohakuhime of Konoha)

It's here; at long last, it's here! This was originally a long oneshot, but my beta only managed to finish with the introduction to this and thankfully KoK didn't mind it being a mini-multichapter fic. It's only going to be three chapters long: beginning, middle, and end.

Disclaimer: _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ never belonged to me; I do not hold any type of ownership over it. Title for this oneshot was inspired by the song called Bloodstream by the artist _Stateless_.

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_The Bloodstream_

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_Saturday, 5:00 PM_

"So… where exactly did you say Serenity was again?"

Joey cracked an eye open as he directed his attention to his friend and finished swallowing the mouthful of Dr. Pepper that he had taken. Placing the bottle back on the coffee table he gave a small roll of his shoulders that wasn't deciphered as a shrug. "Oh, probably at those Bikers' place and having dinner. She said she probably won't be home until closer to six."

Crestfallen, Tristan snatched the remote from its place and started flipping through the channels—ignoring Joey's cry of 'Hey, I was watching that'—and continuing on until unwanted hands latched over his and tried taking the precious away. Tea shook her head at the two and leaned forward to take another carrot stick as Yugi merely smiled at his two friends' goofiness. However, something caught Tea's eyes and when she glanced up she immediately noticed what that was the case. Until the channel changed and more halfhearted threats met her ears.

"Hey!"

Both Tristan and Joey paused in their strife as they turned their gaze to Tea's, momentarily stopping in struggling over for the remote. "What?" They asked her simultaneously with pointed looks and she merely rolled her eyes at them, beckoning towards the screen.

"Go back to the last channel!"

"Huh?"

At the same time the other asked, "Why Tea?"

"Because," She began with a small huff, "I'm pretty sure they had something about Domino beach!"

Both blinked in response before—at the same time—a thumb went and hit the button to return to the previous channel landed on.

"We have one of our reporters reporting live at the very scene." The man said before giving a nod and handing it over to the person at the scene.

The scenery changed to show a new reporter standing in front of bright, yellow tape that seemed to be ongoing, informing the people that there was to be no access to the beach at this time and to stay out.

"Well, Jeffery, as you can see behind me; the police have taped the perimeter off so no tragedy like what occurred earlier today can happen."

"Quick, turn up the volume!" Tea ushered with urgency as she sent another look at the two who had become frozen from the title of what exactly was being reporter and both their faces had now become white as a sheet. Thankfully—or maybe not so—Yugi scooted from his seat to raise the volume so they could hear what the reporter was saying clearly.

"What should have been a normal, sunny and breezy day ended up turning into something completely new. People are absolutely baffled by what's occurred and eyewitnesses were more than stunned from the sight they saw. It was believed to be a horrible and thoughtless prank. That is until the first of its victims let out a bloodcurdling scream. And in a matter of seconds, chaos erupted. Three people have been hospitalized, including the first victim who is said to be in critical condition, but is stabled. In fact, many of the eyewitnesses remarked that, if not for the brave souls who reacted quickly to the screams, the casualty from this calamity may have been greater. Authorities and specialists are hoping to find the cause and, more so, a way to prevent something like this from happening again." The reporter stated, making a few hand gestures time and again. She gave a sober signoff before the camera switched back to the two main reporters seated in the station.

"Thank you, Claire." Jeffery said before glancing down at the papers laid out before him while the reporter next to him gave a small shudder.

"Yikes, talk about _Jaws_—"

But before the newscaster had a chance to finish her sentence the television went black. No one spoke for the longest time as the report of what happened digested into their systems. After a few seconds, Tea was the first to break the heavy silence that hung in the air like death looming over a sickly patient.

"They're probably fine and made it back home before the attack even happened. I-I'm sure you would have gotten a phone call by now if anything did happen to them." Tea said, reassuringly as she tried to shake off the feeling that the newscaster had summoned in both the pit of her stomach and chest. But as soon as the words slipped free from her tongue it was as if some higher force wanted to prove her wrong. She swallowed; gaze firmly planted in the direction where the ringing phone was sounding an alarm.

Yugi gave a nervous laugh, "See Joey? It's probably Serenity calling to tell you that they're fine. They probably saw the news."

Automatically, Tristan nodded in agreement with a soft 'Yeah'.

The phone rang for a third time and three pairs of eyes watched as the blond rose from his seat and headed into the kitchen. Briefly, the three exchanged glances before returning their attention back to where they had seen the blond last. The ringing went off for a fourth time before they heard Joey's muffled 'Hello?' to the caller. Everything was silent—what, the gang noticed, was painfully so—as they waited with anxious ears to hear Joey's reply. Finally curiosity got the better of all three of them—Tea had been persistent, shushing Tristan and telling him to wait—and they carefully entered the kitchen.

"Joey?"

Said person was staring, disbelievingly, into the unknown as loose fingers held the phone halfway to his ear as if whatever the person had told him—

"Hey, man, c'mon." Tristan gave his buddy a little shake by the shoulder and it seemed enough to snap him back to the present. If it were possible, his skin seemed to have lost all color. A new edge had entered Tristan's voice as he tried again to get a verbal answer from him, "C'mon, man, what is it? What's wrong?"

Swallowing, Joey's voice was thick with emotion.

"We need to get to the hospital. _Now_,"

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KoK: Thank you so much for everything and for being extremely patient with me. :) And I'm utterly and immensely sorry for how long it's taken for this to make its way to fanfiction (plus the other two requests)! Hopefully the introduction to this isn't that bad of a disappointment (if so, I'm sorry; I'll try to edit it and make it better!) and my beta has informed me that she may be finished with the second chapter/part sometime in the middle of next week. Thanks again for everything, KoK! XD

To the rest of you readers: thanks for taking the time to read this! :)


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